Nederland retains the core gameplay of the original. Up to five players compete to collect sets of train cards of the same colour. They’ll then trade those cards to claim a route on the board, between two cities. You’ll need Ticket to Ride or Ticket to Ride: Europe to play the Nederland expansion. But as well as a wonderful new board with corresponding tickets, you’ll also get cardboard coins.
In the Netherlands there are bridges, with tolls on them! Every player begins with 30 coins. On the board, between almost every city there’s a toll to pay (ranging from one to four coins). Many of the routes are ‘double’ routes too – meaning two different players can claim the route. The first player to claim a route between two cities checks the toll, and pays it from their supply to the bank. The second player to claim the route has to pay the toll… to the first player that placed trains there!
What if you can’t afford to pay a toll? No problem, you can still claim the route, as per usual. Problem is, you have to pick up a loan. You can’t pay these off – instead, each loan you take loses you five points at the end. There’s a bigger reward at stake, though. By the game end, whoever has the most coins scores a whopping 55 points! Second-most scores 35 points, and so on. Also, if you’ve got loans, you’re disqualified for that end-game bonus. To compensate, many of the ticket cards offer mega-points. Some are worth over 29 points! Others offer 17-26 points. Nederlands Ticket To Ride is quite the competitive alternative!